“I would try to help him. I would invite him to come to my constituency. I would invite him to come to Finsbury Park. We could talk about culture, diversity and history over a cup of tea in the mosque.”

Last month, Trump courted controversy when he suggest membership of Nato was conditional on other nations paying their “fair share”.

It was hugely significant, the first time a would-be US President had raised a question mark over the defence of its major allies under the 28-state collective alliance, which is enshrined in Article 5 of the Nato treaty.